TEMPO.CO, Rote, East Nusa Tenggara - Indonesian Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources ship KM Orca 04 has monitored the country`s waters bordering Australia to check for possible illegal fishing activities in the area.
The country`s southernmost waters were monitored to prevent any intrusion by foreign fishing vessels, the ships captain, Eko Priyono, told ANTARA on Wednesday.
He said the monitoring confirmed that the waters south of Rote island and its surrounding areas were secure from any illegal fishing activities.
He mentioned that while the monitoring was on, he saw an Australian plane also patrolling its border.
"We communicated with its crew and everything went smoothly, with all sides honoring their respective patrolling activities," he noted.
The patrolling was carried out concurrently with the ongoing operations against illegal fish aggregating devices, known locally as "rumpons" that had disrupted natural migration of fish in the East Nusa Tenggara waters. The patrolling also involved fishermen in Tenau, Kupang and other local offices.
After the monitoring exercise, Captain Eko Priyono said the border area KM Orca 04 will scour waters from the south of Rote island, Sabu Raijua, to Sumba island and Laut Sawu to find illegal rumpons.
"The operations against illegal rumpons were carried out based on data of the coordinates of the rumpons supplied by the fishermen of Tenau," he pointed out.
Eko informed that he had also monitored activities of the fishermen to see if they use any illegal equipment, such as trawls, bombs or poisons.
ANTARA
